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US State Department Issues Worldwide Caution for Overseas Americans

Members of the Colombian army stand guard near the US embassy in Bogota on October 18, 2023. The Israeli and US embassies in Colombia received bomb threats, police sources said Wednesday. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Members of the Colombian army stand guard near the US embassy in Bogota on October 18, 2023. The Israeli and US embassies in Colombia received bomb threats, police sources said Wednesday. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
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US State Department Issues Worldwide Caution for Overseas Americans

Members of the Colombian army stand guard near the US embassy in Bogota on October 18, 2023. The Israeli and US embassies in Colombia received bomb threats, police sources said Wednesday. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Members of the Colombian army stand guard near the US embassy in Bogota on October 18, 2023. The Israeli and US embassies in Colombia received bomb threats, police sources said Wednesday. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)

The US State Department on Thursday issued a "worldwide caution security alert" for overseas American citizens, citing increased tensions in various locations around the world and the potential for extremist attacks and violence against Americans.

The alert did not single out any specific global event or war but comes amid an ongoing conflict in the Middle East after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel subsequently pounded Gaza with airstrikes with thousands left dead.

In a related matter, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Thursday that the Justice Department is monitoring an increase in reported threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities in the United States tied to Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“The entire Justice Department remains vigilant in our efforts to identify and respond to hate crimes, threats of violence, or related incidents, with particular attention to threats to faith communities,” Garland said in prepared remarks at a news conference in Jacksonville, Florida.

Garland said that last week he had directed the Federal Bureau of Investigation and US attorneys' offices to work with state and local law enforcement agencies to respond to threats, and urged federal prosecutors to be in contact with faith and community leaders.

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Ethiopia Declares Three Days of Mourning after Landslide Tragedy

A man reacts as residents and volunteers dig in the mud in search for bodies at the scene of a landslide in Kencho Shacha Gozdi on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
A man reacts as residents and volunteers dig in the mud in search for bodies at the scene of a landslide in Kencho Shacha Gozdi on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Ethiopia Declares Three Days of Mourning after Landslide Tragedy

A man reacts as residents and volunteers dig in the mud in search for bodies at the scene of a landslide in Kencho Shacha Gozdi on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
A man reacts as residents and volunteers dig in the mud in search for bodies at the scene of a landslide in Kencho Shacha Gozdi on July 25, 2024. (AFP)

Ethiopia announced on Friday three days of mourning following a devastating landslide in a southern remote part of the country where more than 250 people lost their lives.

Rescuers are continuing the grim search for bodies in the tiny locality of Kencho Shacha Gozdi, while distraught survivors bury those who perished in the disaster, the deadliest landslide on record in the Horn of Africa nation.

UN humanitarian agency OCHA, citing local authorities, said on Thursday that 257 people have died and warned the toll could reach 500.

"The House of Peoples' Representatives has announced a three-day national mourning for the people who lost their lives in the landslide accident," Ethiopia's parliament said, adding that it would start from Saturday.

The period of remembrance would allow "comfort to their relatives and all the people of our country," added the statement, shared by the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission said earlier Friday that humanitarian aid and rehabilitation was "well under way" in the region.

It said a "structure for emergency disaster response coordination and integration" had been established, putting the number of people needing to be relocated at 6,000.

OCHA had said more than 15,000 people need to be evacuated because of the risk of further landslides, including small children and thousands of pregnant women or new mothers.

Aid had begun arriving, it said, including four trucks from the Ethiopian Red Cross Society.

Officials said most of the victims were buried when they rushed to help after a first landslide, which followed heavy rains Sunday in the area that lies about 480 kilometers (300 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa.

International offers of condolences have flooded in, including from the African Union, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is Ethiopian.

Africa's second most populous nation is often afflicted by climate-related disasters and more than 21 million people or about 18 percent of the population rely on humanitarian aid as a result of conflict, flooding or drought.